About Me

My Blog Wordle

Dance nerds unite! I am passionate about classical and traditional dances from India and South Asia, and their glittering moments in Indian cinema and documentaries is the subject of this video-focused blog. Unearthing rare and archival clips is especially of interest, and I tend to focus on dances from South India in South Indian Cinema. I have also recently developed an interest in historical and critical writings regarding the evolution of dance in South Asia, in and outside of cinema, over the past two centuries and beyond.  Academic research that explores Indian dance forms in cinema and their social history is few and far between, but I hope to give some more attention to and highlight some excellent scholarly work on the subject. 

I wasn't much of a dance person until a few years ago when I discovered the classical dances of India and fell in love with them. Not only are the dance forms my favorite world-wide in terms of aesthetics, they are also rich in complex meaning, musical accompaniment, and history. I really like classical dances as they appear in Indian films which is the subject of my blog these days (though it began with film reviews from my days at Bollywhat- thank god I've switched focus because review writing is not my forte!).  When I first became interested in finding classical-based dances in Indian films, I had a hard time finding much information on the subject.  It became even harder when I discovered the world of classic Indian film dances back to the 1930s!  And so I created/fashioned this blog to share my passion for these dances and find other souls with similar interests. It's a labor of love and I love every bit of it!  :)

My blog is really a video-focused blog that not only describes these film dances (and sometimes other dances/related topics) in detail but also offers the chance to view them! I got so tired of reading allusions to so many film dances but not being able to visualize what was being discussed.  Many of the dances I post about are ones I personally tracked down and uploaded for the educational purpose of discussing the dance; I know the few dance nerds out there like me will totally dig this effort.

Personally, my name is Cassidy and I am a white chick living in the snowy US state of Utah who secretly dreams of being an archivist, dance historian, or librarian. To read a bit about how I came to be interested in Indian films and dance at the beginning, see my "How South Indian Films Stole My Heart" post.  My blog pen-name is inspired by “Minai-ware” that I learned about in a college Islamic Art class, and my profile pic is of the luminous Indian actress Shobana.

I welcome any comments or dance nerd chatter at kasuvandi@gmail.com!

Fair Use Disclaimer

I believe my blog is in compliance with Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act which allows for the limited use of copyrighted material without obtaining permission from the rights holders if the usage falls under the definition of "fair use" as determined by the four "fair use" factors. 

Purpose and Character of Use. Copyrighted works are posted/embedded on this blog for the nonprofit purpose of criticism, commentary, scholarship, and research. Many of the works are old, difficult to find, and no longer widely distributed. It is in the public interest to showcase and discuss these old works that have, in some cases, fallen into obscurity. None of the copyrighted works on my blog are presented alone; their use is transformative and presented with commentary that adds expression and meaning to the visuals and in some cases presents background, analysis, and historical information that greatly enhances the public understanding of the work. I use only as much of the work as is necessary to accomplish my goal of discussing and presenting a lesser-known work.

Nature of the Copyrighted Work. I use primarily fictional works (and some nonfiction articles) that have been published in some way.

Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Used. I nearly always feature full-length video songs which are only a portion of the full-length feature film they are a part of. This usage is necessary to pair with my commentary and criticism of the video songs.

Effect of Use Upon the Potential Market for the Copyrighted Work. Given that I usually feature only a small portion of full-length films, this use does not have a significant effect on the market value for the work because the full length film is still of interest to others. However, many of the video songs I feature are difficult to find or no longer available in any “established market.” Most of the works I present are long past the point of gaining significant income for the owner.

In addition, I make an effort to identify sources and owners wherever possible; screenshots used fall under the above definitions of fair use.